>> pelley: tonight, a flu emergency. one of america's biggest cities declares a public health crisis as the flu outbreak spreads. dr. jon lapook on where it's worst. the white house says the president will act on gun control with or without congress. at least two states are looking at banning some weapons. reports from major garrett and michelle miller. lance armstrong's teammates say he threatened them when they told the truth about doping. >> the biggest thing he said is "we're going to make your life a living "f"ing hell. >> pelley: and bob orr on a new national treasure. thousands of hours of interviews with true sports heroes including mickey mantle's memory of his father's tough talk. >> he said "i thought i raised a man, you're nothing but a coward."

captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. this national flu epidemic is getting worse by the day and today boston's, population 600,000 plus, declared a public health emergency after the virus killed more than a dozen people. at least three more states-- montana, south dakota, and arizona-- are now reporting widespread flu, bringing the total to 44 states. and the c.d.c. said the percentage of people going to the hospital for treatment has doubled in the past month. we asked dr. jon lapook to give us the latest. >> reporter: the emergency in boston was declared after confirmed cases of tphrur reached 700. there were just 70 at this time last year. across the state, 18 patients have died. dr. barbara ferrer is the executive director of the boston public health commission. >> in the last two weeks alone

we've doubled our number. so if we continue at this rate to see new cases we'll have an explosion of flu in the city of boston. so we really need to get ahead of this at this point in time. >> reporter: to do that, officials are urging vaccination for everyone six months and older. clinics will be giving free shots this weekend. lehigh valley hospital in pennsylvania is getting as many as 100 patients a day with flu-like symptoms. a tent has been set up to handle the less serious cases. nurse terry burger is in charge of infection control. >> we need a full functioning active emergency department for the community and this just enables us to see the patients that are not as sick, so mild illness, mild injuries, see them quickly and then discharge them. >> reporter: 60 miles south in chadds ford, the entire coan family got the vaccine but eight-year-old alex came down with the flu anyway. >> you cough a lot, kind of sneeze a little. you want to lay in bed all day.

>> as a mom i was very disappointed that he got the flu because i had to fight him tooth and nail to get the flu shot. >> reporter: in recent years, the vaccine has been about 60% to 70% effective at preventing the flu. recently, scientists discovered this year's vaccine is not protecting against specific strain. dr. william schaffner is on the panel that decides what goes in the vaccine. >> there's an influenza-b strain that's out there, an additional strain causing about 10% of the mischief and that's not in the vaccine and that accounts for some of the influenza that's out there. >> reporter: the c.d.c. tells me this year's vaccine is still very well matched to the strains that are out there and, scott, even when the vaccine does not prevent the flu it can still stop complications including pneumonia and death. >> pelley: so get the vaccine. jon, this is clearly a worst season than last year, how does it compare historically? >> a lot of people don't realize the flu varies in intensity from year to year. some years it's mild, it could

be moderate or severe. the c.d.c. told me today this is a moderate to severe season but well within what's historically a normal range of normal. >> pelley: thanks very much, doctor. we saw evidence today that james holmes spent weeks planning his attack on that movie theater in aurora, colorado, last july. 12 people were killed and 70 injured. in a hearing this week, prosecutors have been trying to show that there is enough evidence to try holmes for murder. manuel bojorquez was in the courtroom. >> reporter: prosecutors presented cell phone photos james holmes took of himself hours before the movie theater attack. one photograph showed him holding a pistol, his hair dyed orange, a grin on his face. another showed him sticking his tongue out. holmes smiled when it was displayed for the court. it was his first visible reaction to any evidence presented over three days of testimony. shooting victim yousef gharbi was in the courtroom.

>> he looked like he was having a great time taking those pictures. he must have been pretty excited about going to do the shooting. >> reporter: prosecutors also showed photos of the theater they said holmes took about a month before the shooting. they included the door police say holmes propped open so he could reenter after getting weapons from his car. holmes' defense team decided not to call any witnesses. attorney daniel king told the judge "this is neither the proper venue nor the time to put on a show." it's expected holmes' lawyers will present an insanity defense. this man's son was killed in the shooting. >> we want to call him crazy because we want to make that feel better in our society. but we have to accept the fact that there's evil people in our society that enjoy killing, any type of living thing. but that doesn't make them crazy. >> reporter: james holmes will be back in court on friday and, scott, the judge could allow cameras into the courtroom. >> pelley: manuel, thank you,

that tragedy in aurora, followed by the shooting deaths of 20 first graders and six educators in newtown, connecticut, led the president to promise action. well, tonight major garrett at the white house has learned some of what the president intends to do. major? >> reporter: scott, senior administration officials tell us the president is likely to unveil his new ideas to reduce gun violence next week. the president will push his gun control agenda in his state of the union address next month. in the meantime, we're learning some specifics about what that program is. the president wants congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 and extend criminal and mental health background checks to firearms sales at gun shows and through private dealers. vice president biden has devoteed this week to hearing from all sides, including the n.r.a., tomorrow. >> we're here today to do with a problem that requires immediate action, urgent action, and the president and i are determined

to take action. >> reporter: he met today with victims of gun violence and gun control advocates and said the political climate will never be the same after the newtown massacre. >> i've been doing this a long time. of all the tragic events we've endured, i don't think anything has touched the heart of the american people so profoundly as seeing those young children not only being shot but riddled with bullets. >> reporter: the white house is also looking at ways to encourage gun owners to use and store their firearms more safely. it is reviewing the effectiveness of gun buyback programs seeing if a federal buyback program might actually work. biden also said the president might side step congress and seek to advance his agenda through executive order. senior officials offered no details but, scott, they acknowledge there's very little the president can do to advance gun control without the consent of congress. >> pelley: major, you mentioned that the vice president is going to meet with the national rifle association

tomorrow. what's that conversation going to be about? >> well, it might start with awkward silence. both sides said they're going to come to listen to each other, but i've talked to senior administration officials who said they could not advance this agenda if they didn't invite sportsmen and the n.r.a. here. n.r.a. representatives told me they had to come because if they denied this meeting they would be outside and have no voice whatsoever. neither side, though, expects a great sense of meeting of the mind. >> pelley: major, thank you. the governor of new york today proposed new state laws to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips. this was governor andrew cuomo earlier. >> i own a gun, i own a remington shotgun, i've hunted, i've shot, that's not what this is about. it is about ending the unnecessary risk of high capacity assault rifles! (applause) that's what this is about! >> pelley: in neighboring connecticut, where the latest tragedy occurred, the legislature there is debating

gun restrictions of its own. michelle miller is covering that for us. >> reporter: state senator beth bye represents a part of connecticut that's home to colt, the gun maker that's been in business since 1836. but the democrat decided to push for new state gun laws after going to the funeral of one of newtown's six-year-old victims. you were at anna marquez-green's funeral and her mother, your friend, gave you a message. what did she say? >> her message to me was "we need to get something done." >> reporter: bye's proposals limit access to assault weapons, high-capacity ammunition clips, and levees a 50% sales tax on ammunition. but parts of her bills have already been met by opposition that includes resistance from state senator john mckinney. >> i think if you tax ammunition so high that some people can't afford to buy ammunition then you've taken away their ability to exercise their second amendment rights.

>> reporter: the republican represents newtown, but mckinney's district is also home to gun maker stern ruger and company. >> we need congress to act. because if we pass a law in connecticut but the federal government doesn't have the same law that makes connecticut less safe. >> reporter: connecticut already has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. >> i think what's going to happen here is we're going to divide the responsible gun owners-- who have no problem with some common sense changes-- and the people who think there should be no rules at all. >> reporter: mckinney also attended funerals for several of the sandy hook children. he agrees something has to be done but he says lawmakers can't just focus on guns, they must focus on treatment of mental illness and school safety. >> it's time to put a way those political fights and try to reach a consensus on what we can do that will actually make our society safer. >> reporter: state senator

mckinney told us he does expect new gun control laws in connecticut this year. and, scott, the parents of sandy hook victims, they have some ideas of their own that will be announced on monday. >> pelley: michelle, thank you. we learned today that president obama will nominate his chief of staff, jack lew, to be the new secretary of the treasury. he will be a key player in the coming battles over the budget and raising the federal debt limit. lew previously served as budget director and he was an executive with the banking giant citigroup. now, any idea what this is? you could be seeing a lot of it. it is jack lew's signature which would appear on the bills in your pocket just like that unless he takes a penmanship lesson from tim geithner whose signature looked like this until he became treasury secretary and made it legible. secretary of state hillary clinton told reporters today that she is thrilled to be back

at work but she said it is better sweet because she will soon be stepping down. the secretary said she wouldn't call it retirement, just stepping off the very fast track for a little while. we'll tell you why some of baseball's biggest stars didn't make the hall of fame today. an interview on the lance armstrong investigation is making news. did the cyclist try to buy his way out of a doping investigation? and what could be the worst wildfire in the world right now when the "cbs evening news" continues. in very old habits of using toothpaste to clean their denture. but dentures are very different to real teeth. they're about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can grow and multiply. polident is specifically designed to clean dentures daily. its unique micro-clean formula kills 99.9% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains, cleaning in a better way than brushing with toothpaste.

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if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. >> pelley: there's a new accusation tonight against lance armstrong. the head of the united states anti-doping agency, travis tygart, says armstrong used money and threats to try to head off an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs. armstrong was stripped of his cycling titles after the anti-doping agency published its findings late last year. it found that armstrong had used banned drugs throughout his career. tygart spoke in an interview were tonight's premier of "60 minutes sports" on showtime. we asked about a donation that armstrong offered to tygart's anti-doping agency. what kind of donation was he interested in making to u.s.a.d.a.? >> a significant financial donation. >> pelley: which came to one

what? >> one of his representatives' offices to us. it was in excess of $150,000. >> pelley: more like a quarter of a million dollars? >> it was around that ballpark. >> pelley: when you heard that, what did you think? >> i was stunned. >> pelley: did you feel like you were being bought off? >> it was a clear conflict of interest for usada and we had no hesitation in rejecting that offer. >> pelley: travis tygart says there were also threats against teammates to keep them quiet. tyler hamilton told a federal grand jury that he doped with armstrong and he said the same on "60 minutes" in 2011. after that, hamilton told us recently, he was confronted in a bar. >> turned to my right and it was lance armstrong. >> pelley: so he stopped you told. >> stops me cold. >> pelley: and says what? >> well, first he asked how much "60 minutes" had paid me to do that interview. >> pelley: answer, nothing. >> obviously nothing, yeah. the biggest thing he said is, you know, "we're gonna make your

life a living fing hell both in the courtroom and out." >> pelley: he was at that moment a target of a federal investigation and you were a witness in that federal investigation. >> yup. >> pelley: intimidating a witness is a federal crime. >> yeah. >> pelley: did you feel intimidated? >> i did. i did. i did. >> pelley: the rest of the story can be seen on the premier of "60 minutes sports" tonight at 10:00 on the show time network. in new york city today, a ferry boat crashed into a dock in lower manhattan and about 70 people were hurt. 11 with serious injuries. the ferry was carrying hundreds of commuters from new jersey. the cause is under investigation. a record-breaking heat wave is fueling wildfires in australia. about 200 fires have burned hundreds of thousands of acres. no one has died, but more than 100 homes were destroyed. firefighters got a bit of relief today when temperatures cooled

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[ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. the c.d.c. caught our attention. a study says 14 million women and teenage girls binge drink about three times a month. we asked ben tracy in our los

angeles bureau to cover this. >> when i go out with my friends everyone will have more than four drinks. >> reporter: grace is a 21-year-old college student in los angeles. she moved out of her apartment four days ago because her roommates were binge drinking four times a week. >> there were people in my bedroom throwing up all night, keeping the lights on, going in and out, yelling, screaming. >> reporter: you're trying to sleep and two people are in the same room vomiting from alcohol? >> yeah, uh-huh, exactly. >> reporter: the report says most female binge drinkers are 18 to 34 years old. on average they have six drinks in one sitting about three times a month. >> i don't look at it as i'm putting -- drinking more and more alcohol and getting myself more drunk, it's just like i want to take more shots with my friends. it's a social interaction. >> reporter: binge drinking has largely been considered a problem for me. >> i'd say it's more the norm than a rarity. >> reporter: but a new documentary about women and binge drinking exposed why some women binge. peer pressure, stress relief and escapism.

lena lecaro has covered night life in los angeles for 20 years. >> i've seen girls being carried out of bathrooms, passed out. you know, that's concerning but usually it's a younger club goer that's doing that. >> reporter: she says sweeter drinks and club culture are fueling the female binge. how do the women compare to the guys in terms of the excess drinking? >> i think girls can keep up with guys in that regard whether it be beer, shots, cocktails, the bottle service trend which basically you buy an entire bottle and, you know, to get your money's worth you're going to fin their bottle. >> reporter: but finishing that that bottle may not be worth the cost. ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >> pelley: three of baseball's biggest names, their reputations tainted by steroids, were shut out of the hall of fame today. to get in, a former player must get the votes of 75% of the baseball writers. well, roger clemens got less than 38%, barry bonds about 36%,

and sammy sosa 12.5%. the writers did not elect anyone this year. the first time that's happened in 17 years. the legendary players that you're about to hear did make it to the hall of fame and now they are headed to the library of congress. we'll give you a listen next.

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>> pelley: we end tonight with the voices of some of america's greatest sports legends. they're part of a collection of 10,000 interviews just obtained by the library of congress. bob orr gives us a listen. >> reporter: for home run king hank aaron the topic was integration. as one of major league baseball's first black superstars, aaron carried the hopes of other aspiring players. >> reporter: legendary basketball coach john wooden felt pressure, too. the wizard of westwood won ten championships with u.c.l.a. yet he sought a more far-reaching goal for his teams.

>> reporter: those are two of the 10,000 interviews spanning 25 years just acquired by the library of congress. the tapes from the national radio program "sports byline u.s.a." are being converted to digital files to be shared with the public. >> i believe the earliest tray here is from 1988. >> reporter: gene deanna, the collection's curator, says the interviewed take fans inside the thoughts of their heroes. like mickey mantle. when the yankees sent the struggling rook i do the minors mantle threatened to quit. his father, an oklahoma sync miner confronted the young slugger. >> when you read somebody's words that's fine. burr when you hear them speak and you hear and you mickey's oklahoma twang and his youthful exuberance when he's talking about the game i think it has

more impact. >> reporter: many of those heard on the tapes are now gone. smoking joe frazer reflects on his heavyweight championship. >> reporter: and nascar's intimidator dale earnhardt, who died on the track at daytona, talks about pushing racing's limits. >> reporter: they are voices of legends, now preserved for all time. a sound track of america's sports history. bob orr, cbs news, culpepper, virginia. >> pelley: and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.

road to recovery. robert griffin iii now begins the challenging trek to suit up again for next season. rgiii went under the knife in florida this morning to have that lcl and acl repaired in his knee, a procedure the world renowned surgeon dr. james andrews calls a success. griffin tore the same lcl in 2009 when he was playing for baylor. anita brikman spoke with a surgeon who trained under dr. andrews. >> in the acute rehab process what we want to do is control the inflammation in the knee as well as the swelling and try to get range of motion back. >> it hurts a lot, doesn't it. >> it does. the nurses will be taking care of his pain control